Probiotics Help Allergies?

I am by no means a medical doctor or expert, but I do try to keep educated and informed about ways I can improve my health, especially in ways that do not require putting medication in my body. Don't get me wrong, I do believe medications can be a blessing in many ways, but if I can find a solution to my health issues without using medication, I will try to go that route.

For many years, I required prescription medication and treatments for my allergies and asthma. If necessary, I will seek those treatments again, and I still have my rescue inhaler handy at all times. However, I have, through natural remedies and dietary changes, been able to keep my allergies and asthma at bay. One of the things that I have recently discovered that affects my allergies and asthma are probiotics.

Recently, I had run out of probiotics and had decided I could just forgo them until I was ready to put another order in at Vitacost.com. A week had gone by, and all of a sudden I was having allergy attacks, which often lead to asthma attacks for me. I got to thinking about why my allergies were flaring up suddenly again. Then I remembered I had stopped taking my probiotics for the time being. Curious, I decided to look up online whether or not probiotics affected allergies. Sure enough, there is ample evidence that suggests good bacteria in the gut affects allergies. I stopped by the local drugstore to pick up some more probiotics for the time being, and shortly after starting them, my allergy issues began to subside again.

There are many good food sources that contain probiotics, such as yogurt, kefir, raw honey, raw milk, etc. I am not always good at getting these foods into my diet regularly, but they definitely do contribute to a healthy gut (if you are ever looking for some interesting health reading, studying up on how the gut affects overall health is fascinating!). While I try to eat some probiotic foods, in order to positively affect my allergies, a probiotic supplement is what seems to have the most effect. My preferred probiotic supplement is called Kyodophilus and contains several strains of good bacteria. This link is one of the Kyodophilus products that I have successfully used: http://www.vitacost.com/Kyolic-Kyo-Dophilus-45-Capsules .

Obviously, my story is more of an anecdotal type of evidence, but when looking into the issue, the scientific evidence backs up my experience. For further reading on this subject, you can click on the links that follow: http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/AllergiesNews/Story?id=4727318&page=1 http://www.jigsawhealth.com/resources/probiotics-and-the-gut http://www.beyondallergy.com/allergy-news/probiotics-for-allergy-relief.php . For even further reading, an internet search should turn up additional information.